Michigan vs. NYU

[rtqw]

Barring a surprise acceptance to Harvard, it's between Michigan and NYU for me.

The fact that I've been bringing this up in Michigan threads is probably telling, but I figured I should make a thread in order to get the pro-NYU side too

I want to go to law school in Ann Arbor, but I think NYU is a better school.

The finances? are a bit tricky at this point. With 50K at NYU and 54K at Michigan, the initial edge is to Michigan given NYC's cost of living. However, my parents are considering moving within commuting distance of NYC (they already live in North Jersey). If I lived with my parents, NYU would be somewhat cheaper. If I didn't, NYU would be somewhat more expensive. I don't particularly wish to pay $1500 a month to live on-campus or live with my parents though.

Definitely interested in public interest or government work, and I think NYU is a better school for that. NYU's very good LRAP does alleviate some concerns if I end up spending more to go there. I think NYU is slightly better overall when it comes to career prospects, and I feel that's a very good advantage to have. I'm coming straight from UG, and I'm far from having the most exciting personality (read: probably won't be that great when it comes to the interviewing/networking), so I feel that even a slight advantage in what the school can offer in terms of career prospects is important to me. Michigan is the old established school and NYU is the up and comer, so while they have similar reputations, there might be a slight edge to NYU in the momentum category.

I loved Ann Arbor when I was there (granted, in the spring). For UG I go to a largely commuter school without a football team in a boring suburb, and Ann Arbor is everything I didn't get in college. I like NYC, but I don't think I'm a big city person and I don't know if I want to put up with the cost and other assorted hassle that goes with living there. There's a very good chance I'll be living a large portion of my life in or around a big city as a lawyer, so spending three years in a place like Ann Arbor appeals to me.

Thanks to the NYU scholarship deadline, I have nine days to decide. I've been leaning towards Michigan ever since I got back from the ASW but open to any comments

[newtothis]

Wow. Your analysis is already pretty thorough. I can't think of anything else useful to add. I'm sure your decision will be a good decision.

[Schruted]

I fell in love with NYU at their ASD. I love everything about the place. My deposit is going out as soon as I'm done trying to squeeze any money I can out of them. Now that you know where this advice is coming from...

Go to Michigan.

I'm completely biased the other way, but after reading your post, there is no way you should pick NYU over Michigan.

[Special Agent Dana Scully]

I fell in love with NYU at their ASD. I love everything about the place. My deposit is going out as soon as I'm done trying to squeeze any money I can out of them. Now that you know where this advice is coming from...

Go to Michigan.

I'm completely biased the other way, but after reading your post, there is no way you should pick NYU over Michigan.

really?  thought you were headed to Duke (iirc)?

[Schruted]

I fell in love with NYU at their ASD. I love everything about the place. My deposit is going out as soon as I'm done trying to squeeze any money I can out of them. Now that you know where this advice is coming from...

Go to Michigan.

I'm completely biased the other way, but after reading your post, there is no way you should pick NYU over Michigan.

really?  thought you were headed to Duke (iirc)?

I did like Duke for a while. Are you headed to Columbia?

[CowboyLawyer]

Ari Gold went to Michigan and he's the man.

[Special Agent Dana Scully]

I fell in love with NYU at their ASD. I love everything about the place. My deposit is going out as soon as I'm done trying to squeeze any money I can out of them. Now that you know where this advice is coming from...

Go to Michigan.

I'm completely biased the other way, but after reading your post, there is no way you should pick NYU over Michigan.

really?  thought you were headed to Duke (iirc)?

I did like Duke for a while. Are you headed to Columbia?

99% sure i will be 

[flyaway]

You sound like you want to go to Michigan but are afraid that NYU is the smarter choice.  If you don't consider yourself a big city person, that says to me that you are probably not looking to work in New York BIGLAW.  If I'm right about that, I'm just not convinced that NYU is going to give you much advantage in job prospects at all.

Personally, I didn't even bother applying to places like Penn, Chicago or NYU and only applied to Columbia because of the subsidized housing, though I've now decided that even that is not enough to get me to go to law school in Manhattan.  I'm going to be looking for a job in a secondary market like Atlanta or Houston, and I am really just not convinced that the difference between a top 10 school and a top 6 school is going to have much impact on that particular job search.  I'd rather go to law school somewhere that our quality of life will keep us happy.

If you look at reputation scores, NYU and Michigan were tied on both parts last year, though NYU pulled ahead by .1 in one of the reputation scores this year.  I just don't think NYU is a demonstrably better school, and it certainly doesn't seem to have a significantly better reputation.

[rtqw]

So much for getting unbiased opinions   Have you visited NYU yet?

Seriously. Are there any competent NYU trolls? At this rate, Michigan is going to overall their 2011 class because of the Michigan LSD contingent

Yeah, I visited NYU back in the beginning of March. I defintely liked it a great deal, and must say that their admissions office does a really lousy job at recruiting. Once you talk to students and faculty, you defintely get a better picture of NYU.

I defintely give the edge to Michigan when it comes to the strength of the community, but NYU isn't bad at all.   Trading my happiness for a small edge in job prospects is probably overstating it a bit - there's defintely plenty I'd like in NYC, but I do think AA is better for quality of life.

I'm probably going to stress about it for a week and go back and forth and eventually choose Michigan. Thanks  to those who have given advice so far - maybe the NYU trolls only come out on a full moon? 

[iscoredawaitlist]

you would like to go to NYU (please ignore any selfish motives i might have. that would be convenient for me, thanks)